Chapter 35: Before the Gates of Midnight
{IRIS}
The words slipped from my lips before I could stop them. "Then . . . Lord Val, are you here because you wanted to encourage me?"
The idea seemed absurd the moment I said it. Lord Val—the ever-distant, ever-indifferent, ever-cold Lord Val—coming all the way out here just to lift my spirits?
For a fraction of a second, his expression flickered.
And then, before I could react, his hand moved—lightning-fast.
Thwack.
A sharp flick against my forehead made me yelp.
I stumbled back, clutching the sore spot. "Ow!"
Lord Val simply stared at me, utterly unimpressed. "Don’t get ahead of yourself."
I look up at him aggrieved, rubbing my forehead indignantly. "That hurt!"
"That was the point." He exhaled, slow and measured. "You’ve improved. But not enough. Keep training—even after school starts."
I mumbled under my breath, the warmth from earlier now tinged with slight annoyance. "How am I supposed to train if Sebastian isn’t coming with us?"
Lord Val’s gaze darkened, his tone clipped. "Don’t be an idiot. Sebastian will stay here and manage the household. The Covens of Midnight isn’t even in this dimension."
I blinked. "Oh."
"And another thing," he added. "Once we’re inside the Covens, we don’t know each other, understand? You’re on your own."
I stiffened. "Huh? What?"
"I’m in a higher year," he said, tone dismissive. "Our paths won’t cross much. And I prefer to keep it that way."
My stomach dropped. "But . . . but Lord Val, I don’t know anyone there but you! I don’t even know how to fit in—I don’t know anything about that school! Or how to act inside. How am I supposed to—"
"Just be yourself."
I gaped at him.
Be myself? Be myself?! That was easy for him to say! He was Vladimir Nightborne. He belonged in a place like that.
I, on the other hand, was just a barely-trained werewolf who still got knocked on her ass by an elder vampire on a daily basis.
I was anti-social and had been bullied a lot before. What did I know about school? I hadn’t had one since I was young. I didn’t know how to act in front of such a large crowd, and I had no idea how to fit in.
A sudden wave of fear gripped me. What if this new school was just like my life in the pack? Wouldn’t I end up just as miserable there too?
Lord Val must have sensed the rising panic in me because his gaze softened—barely.
"I’d tell you not to worry," he murmured, "but unfortunately, the Covens of Midnight has its own dangers."
I swallowed hard. "And you’re just . . . throwing me in there alone?"
"Iris." Val’s voice dropped, low and serious. "I won’t always be around to protect you. You have to do it yourself. There’s only so much I can teach you. I won’t be able to do anything if you can’t help yourself."
I opened my mouth. Then closed it. My hands curled into fists at my sides.
He was right.
It shouldn’t have stung as much as it did.
"I . . . I’m not ready," I whispered.
"It’s always hard the first time," Val said. "But you’ll get used to it. Being alone. Being independent. Being able to fight for yourself. It forges character." He hesitated, and then, quieter, "You can do it. I believe you can."
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Lord Val was looking at me—really looking at me. Like I wasn’t just some weakling who failed every fight. Like I wasn’t a lost cause.
No one had ever looked at me like that before.
And despite the shadows pressing in, despite the weight of my own doubts, something within me stirred.
He believes in me.
He was the first to believe in me.
How could I possibly refuse that?
I straightened my spine, nodding once. "I . . . I will try my best, Lord Val."
"Good." He turned, already walking away. "And don’t worry. You’ll have enough Bloodveil vials to last the entire school year."
I blinked. "Wait, what?"
He didn’t answer.
Lord Val had vanished into the night.
I hated when he did that. One moment he was there, commanding and absolute, and the next—gone, like a whisper in the dark. But that was that.
It was time to start packing for my year at the Coven of Midnight.
Not that I had anything to pack.
I owned nothing.
Once inside the mansion, the rain began to pour again, a steady drumming against the windows. The wind howled, rattling the glass, and thunder cracked overhead, deep and resonant. It was as if the entire sky had been split open. Fitting, really. The storm outside felt eerily similar to the one inside me—unpredictable, emotional, and barely held together.
I was heading to my room when I stopped abruptly. Someone was standing just outside my door.
Sebastian.
"Oh, Lord Sebastian," I said, blinking up at him. "Do you need something?"
My voice came out steadier than expected. After being tossed around like a ragdoll for over a month, I had gotten used to his presence.
The nerves I used to have around him had dulled into something else entirely—maybe exhaustion, maybe reluctant acceptance of never going to win against him.
"I’m here to help you pack," he said simply.
"Oh." I shifted awkwardly. "You don’t have to. I don’t really have much to pack anyway."
Sebastian’s expression didn’t change. "Lord Val told me you would say that. So, he instructed me to pack for you."
I stared. "Huh?"
Instead of answering, Sebastian stepped past me and into my room. I followed, watching in stunned silence as he moved lightning fast, opening the wardrobe, pulling out dresses, gathering essentials as if he had done this a hundred times before.
"W-wait," I stammered. "Is it even okay for me to take these? They aren’t mine . . ."
"These belong to you now," he said matter-of-factly. "Lord Val said so the moment you stepped foot into this mansion."
I bit my lip, hesitating.
Happiness stirred within me, but so did something else—something uneasy.
The girls before me . . . they had disappeared, hadn’t they? These weren’t their things, were they? I didn’t want to think about it.
